Pattern #7:
Initialisms…words made from the first letters of each word in a phrase.
Example:
Full form: She’s a medical doctor.
Initialism: She’s an MD.
Can be: a or an
It depends on the pronunciation of the first letter.
To hear the names of the letters of the alphabet, click here.
First, let’s review patterns we already studied: a e i o u … h
vowel a: an ATM
vowel e: an ER
vowel i: an IBM computer
vowel o: an OK
vowel u: a UFO
written h: an HBO movie
Now, let’s look at the two lists below.
Each list shows:
1) the letter of the alphabet
2) spelling of the name of the letter
3) an example
These letters begin with a consonant sound: a + first letter
b [bee]: a BS
c [cee]: a CIA agent
d [dee]: a DMV line
g [gee]: a GPA
j [jay]: a JV team
k [kay]: a KO
p [pee]: a POW
q [cue]: a Q&A session
t [tee]: a TV
v [vee]: a VOA announcer
w [double u]: a WHO report
y [wy]: a YMCA club
z [zee]: couldn’t find one
These letters begin with a vowel sound: an + first letter
f [ef]: an FBI agent
l [el]: an LLC
m [em]: an MD
n [en]: an NFL game
r [ar]: an ROTC cadet
s [ess]: an SUV
x [ex]: an X-ray
Are you curious what the initialisms mean?
1. Bachelor of Science degree
2. Central Intelligence Agency
3. Department of Motor Vehicles
4. grade point average
5. junior varsity
6. knock out
7. prisoner of war
8. question and answer
9. television
10. Voice of America
11. World Health Organization
12. Young Men’s Christian Association
13. couldn’t find one
1.Federal Bureau of Investigation
2. limited liability company
3. medical doctor
4. National Football League
5. Reserve Officer Training Corps
6. sport utility vehicle
7. X-ray (not a real initialism)
(German physicist, Wilhelm Roentgen, discovered a new form of radiation in 1895. He called it X-radiation because he didn’t know what it was.)
